Gene Kain was born in Moscow but fled with his mother to Eastern Europe in 1943. As refugees, they wandered for over five years before emigrating to the US. Many of Kain’s images go back to childhood memories of these stateless war years.

Kain got his MFA degree at Syracuse University.
He studied sculpture with Prof. Domenic Angelo and ceramics with Prof. Henry Gernhardt . His career focused on teaching—at SUNY Buffalo, at the American International School in Vienna and at Ripon College in Wisconsin.

He lived in Austria for over a decade where he taught himself bronze-casting. He returned to the US in 1983 to work at Ripon College until retirement in 2010. He taught in the Art Department and, as gallery director, also curated over 100 exhibitions. He has shown over the years in New York City and state, Vienna and other Austrian cities, Chicago, Portland ME, and at many venues in Wisconsin, especially the Milwaukee Art Museum, Kohler Art Center and in faculty shows at Ripon College.